Meet A Physician: Yvette Westford

Education: Undergraduate degree from Pace University in New York; Medical School at Ross University School of Medicine and residency at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut.

Time In Victoria: 6 years

Family: Married to Barry Coles for 5 years; three children, Gracyn, 3, and Kathryn and Madelyn, 14 months old.

Age: 48

Specialty: Obstetrician Gynecologist

Why did you choose to become an OBGYN?

First, I was born and raised in Guyana, South America, which is poor, and it's not exactly advanced. I was a little girl who was really smart in a country that I shouldn't have been smart in. I knew when I was little that I was going to do something. I knew I wanted to be a doctor. My grandmother was a midwife; I had a passion for women and women's issues because I didn't understand why people felt the way they did about women. It's been there ever since, and it's what makes me still enjoy waking up at 2 a.m. to do a vaginal delivery. I think I have the most fun job in the world.

Why did you choose to come to Victoria?

I was doing my residency in Connecticut, and it was cold and bleak. One day, I was vulnerable, and a recruiter called and asked if I wanted to come to Texas. I said if you don't have any place warm to take me, I won't go. I came right after the December 2004 snow, and I found the happiest people on Earth. People were reveling in having a snowstorm, I thought it was very sweet. It was that intangible thing that got me here.

Why did you choose to open your own practice?

I have always danced to my own drummer, and I've always had a vision. I had an idea of how I wanted to be and who I wanted to be and what kinds of relationships I wanted to have with my patients. It's part of completing that vision. And, I now have three young children and I'm trying to make my professional life compatible with my private life. It's all about fulfilling the goal.